This is in response to the article published in Hindustan time of 09th Aug 2010 "Let’s reap the faith" by Mr. Fareed Zakaria (is the Editor of Newsweek and the author of The Post-American World)
"Let's reap the faith", why not Mr.Fareed Zakaria? Before we delve any further in this proposition, it would be proper to examine the statement.
Reap = Profit
Faith = Trust
Faith = Religious belief or Religion.
"As you sow, so shall you reap" is the law of the nature, laws enacted by mankind are fallible, fortunately laws of the nature do not suffer such frailty.
What you set out to correct has paradoxically resulted in another individual taking the initial step towards rigidity, and that person unfortunately is you. “Five years ago, the ADL honoured me with its Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize. I was thrilled to get the award from an organisation that I had long admired. But I cannot in good conscience keep it anymore. I have returned both the handsome plaque and the $10,000 honorarium that came with it.”
Where does the radicalisation takes place? In the Mosques, Madrassas , Seminaries, in the bad lands of AF-Pak or is it on the streets of the free world?
Which community has this problem of radicalisation? Is it a phenomenon across all religions or is it in Islam?
Followers of which religion are indulging in acts of terror in the name of its religion? Is it all the religions of this world or is it Islam?
Aggrieved cannot be expected to reward the aggressor. Turmoil exists in the society which believes in Islam, we cannot correct this; all course corrections have to come from within and not without.
There is a moderate section of society in Islam. Granted; why is this section not vocal and is not exerting itself?
The moderate voices in Islam will have to engage their own, as they engage with humanity on a world wide scale. Any solution or efforts from outside would exacerbate the sense of victimhood that is often used as a justification for retaliatory violent actions from the followers of Islam.
This is an excerpt of a conversation which I had with an individual from Pakistan on a website about a couple of months back, both of us were disturbed with the venom and senseless verbal violence that many other were indulging in, this gentleman seemed a lot more reasonable in his comment so I engaged him in a conversation with the hope that I might benefit from his knowledge of Islam. This individual made very vehement statements about Vedas having predicted about the coming of Holy Prophet (PBH) and also that Bhagwat Gita mentions about the concept of Jihad. On repeatedly inquiring from this person as to which Veda has made the prediction he was initially evasive and stated that he does not remember in which Veda he had read this (Veda have been passed down from one generation to the other thru word of mouth) On my informing him that Veda did not mention anything as claimed by him or that Bhagavad Gita does not have any reference to Jihad, he turned around and asked me to listen to Dr. Zakir Naik’s lectures. This gentleman has accepted the word of another individual as gospel without applying his mind. His is the mindset that moderates would have to counter, there is complete and total acceptance of what is deemed suitable. There is a very strong case that the followers of Islam start to question what they hear from other individuals.
Another centre in the free world is not the panacea, closed societies in West Asia need to open up.
We in India who have our own brand of six sigma tested and certified secularism cannot be pontificating to the world. Every sovereign nation of the world will have to grapple with this issue and come up with an acceptable formulation most suited to the environment that exist there; There is no single size fit all solution to this issue.
The issue of mosque or a centre being built in close proximity of Ground Zero cannot be addressed on the basis of Legality and Constitutional rights of a section of the society. This would require a very liberal dose of mutual goodwill, give and take, which has already received a major setback by your own action as stated above.
Describing the reactions of those opposed to the centre as Islamophobia is over simplifying the problem and is an exercise in escapism. Push this through on the basis of legality or constitutional rights, is a sure recipe for unwanted happenings in future.
For the benefit of those who may not be fimiliar with Vedas and Bhagavad Gita.
The Four Vedas language used is Sanskrit.
1 Rigveda "the triple sacred science" of reciting hymns, were probably essentially complete by 1200 BC
2 Yajurveda performing sacrifices
3 Samaveda chanting
4 Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda. Its status has occasionally been ambiguous, probably due to its use in sorcery and healing.
Bhagavad Gita "Song of God" The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna. The content of the Gita is the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war.
